More Deliciousness

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

4 (1 ounce) squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

In a double boiler, melt unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of the chocolate chips, and the butter stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, whip eggs and sugar until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and the chocolate mixture until well mixed. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; gradually stir into the chocolate mixture. Fold in mini chocolate chips. Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll chilled dough into 1 inch balls. Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.Bake for 9-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Bars

I found a recipe for pumpkin cheese pie on the internet and decided that was a good use for the leftover pumpkin I had sitting in the fridge. I found some other recipes that were almost the same, so I used all of these to make my own recipe for Pumpkin Bars. Instead of the pie crust and pie format, I decided I wanted to use a ginger snap crust. I have never made one before, but it just sounded good to me. I used a little too much butter in the crust, so I think I will use one or two tablespoons less next time. Everything else was pretty good. This is the recipe I used:

Crust:

2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies (about 40 cookies)

1/2 stick butter, melted (a little too much butter, try 6-7 TBSP next time)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13 in. pan. Mix melted butter and crushed cookies and press into the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Filling:

2 cups pumpkin puree

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix filling ingredients together and pour on top of crust. Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before cutting.

It's Friday already? SCORE!!!

Sunday morning was the second time I ran through Hell. I borrowed Troy's Woopie Cushion costume, and it was a big hit! This time I got Mel and Andrew to come with me! We had a lot of fun! I ran the 5K in 26:45. Not my best time, but for all the hills, I am satisfied. I beat my time from last year by a couple minutes, so that's great!

This year I had five different Halloween costumes, and I didn't spend a penny on any of them!

Last Wednesday I dressed up at the Cat in the Hat and did a little volunteering at Trick or Treat on the Square in downtown Lansing. I have never touched so many donuts in my life! Saturday I wasn't planning on dressing up, but I ended up being a cowgirl when I went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for Kim's birthday. Sunday morning was the woopie cushion. Monday at work we did a Jack-O-Toxin Lateral Flow skit, and I dressed as 'gold' and wore all red. I wore my cape at work all day just for fun. Monday night Marissa wanted to go out, so I brought out my Superwoman costume and went to the Tin Can with Amy Winehouse for a couple drinks! We made it an early night because we're both old and have real people jobs, but it was nice to catch up on stuff. All the Halloween festivities were a lot of fun.

126.6 miles to go!